{-Ouka-}
She hated everything about this. But she had to go along with it, because that was the only way things would change.
A change she didn’t necessarily want, granted, but a change a part of her knew she needed.
She tried figuring out what she was going to be facing before they left, but Mazel refused to share anything. Maybe she thought that Ouka would just run away from the problem. And, well, that wasn’t completely wrong.
But Ouka wasn’t about to admit that Mazel was completely right either. Ouka had a reputation to uphold, after all, and she wasn’t about to let all of it fall apart now.
After a couple of days of traveling, they eventually found themselves in a small town closer to the border. She didn’t recognize the place, but she still felt something familiar about it. Probably just because it was the closest thing to her “true home” that she’d been since meeting Brenan.
“Hey, are you sure you’re alright?” Brenan asked once they’d both settled down at an inn. They’d already ordered something simple for themselves and Mazel had disappeared about an hour ago. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this…”
“I’m fine.” Ouka was quieter than she wanted to be, though. “I guess you could say I’m a little nervous. But that’s the extent of it.”
“Even just seeing you ‘nervous’ is a little bit disconcerting…”
“Well, you’re just going to have to deal with it. This is just how it’s going to have to be until we finish this whole thing.”
It took him a moment, but eventually he asked, “You really don’t want to do this, do you..?”
“Of course I don’t. I still can’t exactly believe that kid’s going to do anything more than waste our time.”
“You’ve seen that she’s what she says she is—a Fos. That isn’t reassurance enough that she can at least do something to change this?”
“Not when I’ve been raised to believe that the gods don’t have the powers to uphold their promises. Even if they did, they probably didn’t have the intention of keeping them anyway. What has Mazel even done, really? Aside from turning into a bird, she hasn’t made things any different. It wasn’t really her that did anything. She’s just been asking us to put us in situations that, frankly, could’ve gone a lot different.”
At the sight of Brenan’s discouraged frown, Ouka sighed.
“I don’t care whether or not I’m going to spend the rest of my life wandering the streets, or even if I’ve ended up doing something worse. I don’t think there’s really a way to reverse the kinds of things I’ve been a part of, and I’m perfectly fine with accepting the punishment for that. I know for a fact that you don’t deserve this, though. The only fault you had was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. So… I’ll do this for you. Frankly you’re the only reason I’m putting up with this weird bullshit. For your sake… I’ll hope this all turns out alright in the end, and you get the ending you’re hoping for.”
Brenan faltered. She couldn’t blame him, for thinking that she’d see the challenges ahead of her and simply run away from them. After all, that’s what she’d done in the past, and that’s what she preferred to do. But she didn’t want to risk doing it now, because she made her mind up about something else; she needed to do this for him. The gods were unpredictable—though they claimed him redeemed now, what if she didn’t do the same? Would they take it away from him, too? And that wasn’t something he deserved.
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So this was just something she had to suffer through.
“Well,” Brenan eventually said. “We’ll probably know what we’re doing tomorrow morning—Mazel said she’d explain it to us then. Maybe it won’t be as bad as you fear it will.”
“I’m not holding on to much hope.”
…
Ouka was half expecting Mazel not to show up at all, or at least to show up at some completely inconvenient time. Surprisingly, though, she was there by the next morning—and way too peppy for someone awake this early. Then again, if she was related to the gods, she probably didn’t have the same needs mortals did from the beginning…
“Now,” Mazel said in what Ouka considered an almost condescending tone, “I’m sure you’re wondering what you’re going to be doing.”
“Just get to the point,” Ouka remarked with a sigh. After a moment, she dared to ask, “It’s not… going to take as much talking to others as Brenan had to do, right..? I want to avoid that level of confrontation if at all possible. I can’t promise I’m going to follow all your directions if I have to deal with people.”
“You don’t have to worry. We want you to succeed, after all, so we took your individual strengths and weaknesses into account. I think you’re going to like what your task is. Well… maybe not like, but it definitely doesn’t involve the same things that Brenan had to do.”
“So what is it? Probably still something complicated or probably dangerous, I’m assuming?”
Mazel gestured them both a little closer so she could show them a simple map. One messy possibly-town read We Are Here and another, just-as-indeterminate building had This is Where You Go beside it.
“If this is your handwriting, it’s sloppy as hell,” Ouka couldn’t stop herself from remarking.
Mazel completely ignored her. “This point right here is where you’re going. I’m sure you’ve heard of the White Ravens, right? I know you don’t want to talk about it, so I won’t go into too many details. Just know that this is one of their bases. Now I know what that look is for, but just hear me out.” She pointed, specifically, to the building on the map. “There’s two things in here I want you to get. The first is a copy of the reports they have—not the reports themselves, just some copies. They can keep the originals. The next, and what I feel is more important, is a bird they’re keeping in the base. I don’t know exactly where they are, but you need to set them free—even better if you can bring them back with you.”
“What do you need papers and a bird for?”
“We can talk about that part later.”
“Do you really want me to just accept that as an answer?”
“You’re going to have to, because that’s the most I’m allowed to tell you right now.”
“And who’s trying to stop me from knowing more than that? What else do you have planned with all of this stuff?”
Mazel first seemed ready to say something, but then paused and took a deep breath. “I know it’s hard for you to just accept what I’m trying to tell you, but you’re going to have to trust me. Let’s just say that both of the things I want you to get are very important. Possibly more than you realize. But I just can’t share the details right now. I want you focused on completing the task, not thinking about everything else that’s involved with it. Alright?”
Ouka, though partially begrudging, nodded. “When do you want me to get started?”
“I think it would be best if you could start now. I’m not completely sure how many people would be there, but it’s only going to get busier later in the day.”
“How do you expect me to get in, by the way? You do realize the Ravens guard their bases, right? It might not be with the conventional methods, but they’ve got their ways, and I doubt they’re going to let me in just because I ask nicely.”
“It probably won’t be as hard as you’re imagining it to be. Trust me, all you’ve got to do is focus on your mission. Everything else will fall into place from there.” Mazel gestured for them to follow her. “Now, come on. I’ll walk the two of you to the base, then you can go inside and complete the mission. Once you do that, you’ll both have your redemption. I can promise you that much, if you’re willing to trust me.”
“Don’t have too much of a choice if I want to change things, do I?” Ouka remarked. “Let’s just get this over with. The sooner it’s done, the better. Then maybe we’ll have something to show for all of this trouble…”